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ALL DAY No. A0303-251 Sept. 14 Douglas Falls— 8:00 AMLocust Ridge Circuit Hike 11, Drive 60, 2000 ft. ascent, Rated A-A Bruce Bente 692-0116 bbente@cytechusa.com Features one over-6000 peak. This popular diversified CMC hike features beautiful Douglas (Carter Creek) Falls, a climb through a hemlock forest to the Mountains-to-Sea trail, with an option to climb 6080' Craggy Dome (an over-6000' peak) during our lunch stop. After lunch, we'll see great views from a high mountain meadow loaded with blueberries, and then bushwhack down the manway on Locust Ridge. Topos: Montreat, Craggy Pinnacle

All-day hikes submitted by Bruce Bente 692-0116, bbente@cytechusa.com , with the assistance of Tom Sanders. Driving distance is round-trip from Asheville. All Saturday and Sunday hikes assemble at Westgate Shopping Center near I-240 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

HALF DAY No. 8080 Sept. 14 Rocky Point from Hickory 1:30 PM Nut Gap (other name: Ferguson Peak) Hike 4, Drive 30, Rated C-B Pete Steurer - 891-9802 Ridge walking with open meadows and fine views are part of this moderate in-and-out hike. Second meeting place: parking area at Hickory Nut Gap, US 74-A, 5 miles north of Bat Cave.

Half Day hikes submitted by Elisabeth Feil, 684-8719. For the next schedule, please call Anita and Richard Walkey, 681-2967, with suggestions. Leaders: Mail sign-up sheets to this quarter's scheduler. Meet at Westgate unless otherwise noted.

ALL DAY No. 8069 September 24 Bill Kimball Trail 8:00 A.M. Hike 6, Drive 45, Rated B-B Ned Stallard, 697-1579 Starting at Raven Cliff parking lot we hike down to and along the scenic Saluda River, and return with a strenuous climb around "El Lieutenant". First meeting place: Fresh Market, Hendersonville.Second meeting place: Raven Cliff parking lot at 8:30.

ALL DAY No. 8068 September 17 Pisgah Ridge Loop 9:00 A.M. Hike 7.5, Drive 15, Rated B-B Kathie Giddings, 696-9808 kmgiddings@juno.com This is a rescheduling of a recent hike that was re-routed because of a Parkway closing. Starting at the Graveyard Fields parking lot, we will follow the Pisgah Ridge Trail to the MST, and lunch at a beautiful overlook. Then we’ll proceed on the Graveyard Ridge Trail to the parking lot. This hike has nice views along the way. Meeting place: Cold Mountain Overlook at Wagon Road Gap parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Hwy. 276. Topo: Sam Knob/Shining Rock.

Wednesday Hikes are submitted by Kenneth & Carol Deal, 281-4530, KMCDeal@aol.com . Next schedule: Paula McNabb, 274-0057 gcmcnabb@charter.net. The meeting place for each hike will be designated by the hike leader and will appear in the hike description. Driving mileage will be listed, round trip, from the first designated meeting place.

Hi guys, At 4:45 pm today, Sept.. 8, Tom emerged from the woods at the Mt. Pisgah Parking Lot to finish the Loop and climb all 40 peaks over 6000, after 25 days of hiking and about 470 miles. The last 3 days have been torrid, but fantastic. --

Sept 6. Began at Richland Balsam Pkg Lot, climbed Richland Balsam ( the tourist walkway is badly overgrown, obviously noone has responsibility for it ). Walked down the Pkwy,couldn't find Dave's access to Reinhart, maybe didn't go far enough, so went up on my own bushwhack, came up on N side of ridge, took advantage of breaking down of briars by previous people who, I think, had come up from Bear Trail Pkg Lot. Got to summit. Descent, as usual, was awful. I tried at first to do my own descent, but ran into a wall of little trees and briars, found evidence of previous ( Dave's) descent, got started on it, and eventually got down to MST. Followed MST rest of day, climbing Hardy, and ended up at NC 215, where Mary met me and took me home to good meal. I continue to puzzle about the problem of no blazes or signs in the Wilderness Area, ran into 3 groups standing around looking at maps and wondering where in the hell to go. I'm astounded that more people don't get lost over there. It's esp confusing around Hardy, where there are all kinds of trails. I love the section from Haywood Gap to Hardy; it has so much variety of good stuff. I think about 20 miles, though I'll have to check. --

Sept. 7. This was a really important day. Mary had me up at NC 215 by 8:15. Set off on MST to Chestnut Knob. Incredible coincidence, as I started up, saw another guy starting up, named Drake, neurologist from Charlotte, planning to move to Colorado, doing SB6K. We went up, had great conversation back down MST. I took Little Sam Trail, crossed Flat Laurel, but missed Sam Knob Trail, ended up in mess of briars headed toward Sam Knob. Finally after much bloodshed, got to proper trail. Ascended Sam, ran into guy measuring distance up. I told him to get in touch with Don W. about MST, which he seemed to want to do a book on, but totally ignorant of what is already known about that area. Came down, got on Art Loeb, did Black Balsam, Tennent, went directly up on old trail over Grassy Cove Top ( lots of blueberries, but they aren't very good this season ), on to Shining Rock, which I didn't climb because I wanted to go on to Cold Mtn. Over Stairs and Narrows ( I had always considered Narrows difficult, but I've dealt with so many rocky, steep, and uneven sections of trail on this Loop that it didn't faze me), left pack at Deep Gap, went up Cold Mtn., met guy at water source, Randy, from Charlotte, back down and on to Shining Rock Gap. I've noticed on the Loop that while afternoon uphills have always bothered me in the past, now I get an incredible burst of energy that carries me up, in this case over Narrows and up Stairs Mtn. Got to Shining Rock Gap at 7 pm, raining, set up tent. Rained most of nite. The one pound tent was ok in that rain didn't come thru it, and by pitching in a grassy area grass absorbed most of rain and it didn't get under the tent. I can't believe what I did today. It was 20-21 miles and a lot of uphill, plus climbing 6 peaks over 6000. I had hoped to do this because it meant that I would only have 20-21 miles the next day and could finish. --

Sept. 8. Up, as usual, at 6:30. Climbed Shining Rock right after breakfast and getting packed up. This was one of the highlights of the trip. Shining Rock, no. 40 on the Loop for me, was the first peak over 6000 that I ever did ( several times as Boy Scout ). At the top the early morning light was very clear, and I could see the route along ridges and peaks that I had done in the previous 3-4 days. Set off on Art Loeb, getting drenched from rain on brush from previous night ( Art Loeb is badly overgrown, no clear person to take care of ). At Ivester Gap took old RR bed down to MST at Graveyard Ridge, rest of day 16 miles on MST. The section from Bridges Camp Gap for the next 3 miles is gorgeous, then on to my own 4 miles across Green Knob. When I got to Buck Spring, facing 5 miles up to Pisgah, tired, but then that burst of energy. Did it in 1 hr, 40 min., and finally another mile to where I began. Wow, what an experience! I'll have to sort it out. I feel so privileged that I've been able to put this thing together, to hike these wonderful trails with their views, flowers, woods, and just the pleasure of being out there. I think it would be a wonderful special project for CMC that people could do, perhaps by sections or if they think they have a month, to do the whole thing.

Tom has completed the process of hiking Cave Dog's original route of 303 miles plus closing the loop by walking back on the AT from the Roan Highlands to Clingman's Dome for a total mileage of 460.

Jeff had another good week on the trail this week. He started off in Asheville Monday morning (September 1) after eating "real" food with friends on Sunday night. Along the way, he stopped at Asheville's unique Folk Art Center (Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 382) and at the remains Rattlesnake Lodge. The lodge was a summer home built in 1903 by Dr. Chase P. Ambler and his family - it burned in 1926 after been struck by lightning. Jeff said all that remains today is stonework.

After passing Rattlesnake Lodge, Jeff had a "roller coaster" of a day. He hiked up and up, hitting three major peaks. Monday night he camped at Snowball Mountain. Tuesday he was up before the sun ready to take on the mountains again with Camp Alice at Mount Mitchell State Park as his goal. The scenery through Craggy Gardens was awesome, and he succeeded in making it to Camp Alice at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Wednesday Jeff hiked to the crest of Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi, and ate lunch while taking in the view and waiting for a ride back to his car.

Jeff took Thursday off to dry out his gear (his boots are smelling "ripe" now!), run a few errands, and get ready for the next section from Mount Mitchell to Boone. He is set to start hiking with Bruce Wisely of Raleigh on Saturday, September 6. This section is one of the most remote sections of the MST. Jeff compared it to the 100-Mile Wilderness section of the Appalachian Train in Maine. Jeff and Bruce will forge two rivers over the course of the week - the Catawba River and Linville River. Hopefully, the rains will not be heavy over the next few days to cause major swelling of the rivers.

Check out www.trailjournals.com in a few days to see some pictures of Jeff on the trail during week 1. Search for "Brewer" and you should find his journal easily. I will be in touch next week with another report. Amy

Fellow MST maintainers, lets get our sections in shape for the president's visit to our glorious section of the MST! This is our chance to help make Jeff's trip through Western NC and our 130 miles of MST a most memorial experience.

We currently have several sections on the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) that would love to have a caring individual who can adopt a section of their very own. As a trail maintainer, you would be the MST's most important advocate and protector. In this role, you would become familiar with trail maintenance techniques so that you understand the big picture as you perform the simple, recurring maintenance and repairs necessary to keep the trail in good repair. One your most important duties would be the "eyes" and "ears" of your section. The section supervisors are responsible for all of the "heavy duty" work and should be contacted to perform trail work you would not feel comfortable doing.

CMC HIKING WEEKEND

Sept. 9, 2003 UPDATE

Note: Changes to the last revision are highlited in gray.

For the last weekend of September (Sept. 27-28), CMC has scheduled a weekend hiking trip to the Lake Fontana area.

We will stay in the Fontana Village or nearby campgrounds on Friday and/or Saturday nights, on the south side of Fontana Lake, and will hike some of the trails on the north shore of Fontana Lake in the Great Smoky Mtns. Natl. Park.

As of 9/9 48 people have made room/cabin reservations, or are planning to camp.

Details of the trip are:

Check-in at Fontana Village:

We will have a CMC table set up in back of the Fontana Village registration counter. This table will have sign-in sheets for each of the planned hikes, and color topo maps of Fontana Village hiking trails. Hikes will be scheduled in accordance with which ones people sign up for.

A number of people are going over earlier on Friday to do some early hiking and to explore the area. We will get together for supper Friday somewhere in the area, and would like everyone else who will be there by that time to join us. Our meeting place will be 6 pm Friday in front of the Fontana Village Recreation Center.

Our central “Information Center” will be Bruce Bente’s cabin. The cabin number will be posted at the CMC table by the registration counter.

Hiking:

The third quarter issue of Lets Go lists the moderate/strenuous hikes that Dave Wetmore will lead on Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to these hikes, the following hikes are planned:

Saturday 9/27 Hazel Creek Adventure

Diane Hankins will lead a hike that will also take the ferry over to Hazel Creek, but will go about 6 miles total at a leisurely pace. Depending on how many people sign up for this hike, it could either go over from the Marina at 8:30am or 9:00am and return on the 3:30pm pickup, or go over at 8:00am with the all-day group & wait for them to return for the later pick-up. This trip will include the abandoned town of Proctor and its interesting artifacts, including one remaining home and the town cemetery.

Saturday 9/27 If enough people sign up, Bruce Bente will lead one of the other potential short hikes as listed in Lets Go. The hike to be hiked will be the most popular one on the sign-in sheets.

Sunday 9/28 Lakeshore Trail

Diane Hankins will lead a hike that will go after we check out of Fontana Village Sunday morning. We’ll either walk across the dam or drive across it to the Lakeshore Trail trailhead. This section is well above the lake and is a nice walk through the woods, past homesteaders’ artifacts including abandoned 1030s cars, to a nice overlook down to the lakeshore.

Sunday 9/28 If enough people sign up, Bruce Bente will lead one of the other potential short hikes as listed in Lets Go. The hike to be hiked will be the most popular one on the sign-in sheets.

In addition, Fontana Village has 20 miles of trails around the village for those who want to hike nearby.

Entertainment:

The Mountain Memories group will conduct a square dance Saturday night in the Fontana Village Recreation Hall from 7:30 – 11:00 PM. We will have the option of dancing for $8, or watching for free.

Lodging:

Fontana Village will give discounted rates for CMC attendees.

Attendees should make their reservations directly with Fontana Village

(1-800-849-2258), and ask for the CMC rate.

Fontana Village offers a range of accommodations. They have quoted the following rates for CMC attendees:

•hostel-type beds: (bare bed frames, no mattress, with kitchen) (approx. $15/night—

A rate was not negotiated for this.)

•Camp Cabins: 2BR, 1BA, with kitchen (without bed linens or kitchen utensils) ($43/night/cottage)

•Dogwood Cottage: 2BR, 1BA with kitchen (with bed linens and kitchen utensils) ($58/night/cottage)

•Laurel Cottage: 2BR, 1BA with kitchen, with bed linens, utensils, TV, air cond.)

($75/night/cottage)

Azalea Cottage: 2 or 3 BR, 2BA with kitchen, bed linens, utensils, TV/VCR, air cond. ($145/night/cottage for 3BR)

•Fontana Inn: 2 double beds ($58/night/room)

•Campground with hookup ($18/night/campsite)

•Campground w/o hookup ($13/night/campsite)

There are also campgrounds as follows:

•Campground next to Little Tennessee River (See quoted rate above)

•Cable Cove Campground five miles from Fontana Village ($8/night/campsite)

CMC will have use of the outdoor swimming pool and other Fontana Village facilities. Mountain bikes and horses are available for rental.

Please look at their website www.fontanavillage.com for more information.

Meals:

Meals are available at Fontana Village at either the restaurant in the Lodge (breakfast approx. $7.50; supper $9.50/person buffet), or the Fontana Village Cafe. They will prepare trail lunches for $6 if requested.

We plan to make reservations at the restaurant in the Lodge for 7pm Saturday night, so CMCers can eat together and exchange stories about the day’s hikes. (See note above under “check in” about Friday night supper.)

For a nice Sunday night supper on the way home, we recommend the Jarrett House in Dillsboro. Exit US74 north to the right on US23 south, then turn left at the first traffic light.

Transportation:

The driving time to Fontana from Asheville is about 2 hours via I 40 – US 23/74 – NC 28.

Ferry service across Lake Fontana is available from the Marina, near Fontana Dam. The 20-minute ride across to the hike trailhead will cost about $12-20 per person (round trip), depending on the number of passengers and the time of return.

The Marina opens at 8:00AM, and the last scheduled pickup for return is 3:30pm. However, they will pickup as late as 5:30pm, for an extra charge of $40/boat for overtime. (for example, if the Saturday Hazel Creek hike has 15 people, the round trip returning at 5:30pm, would cost about $14/person.)

The Saturday all-day hike is scheduled to return by boat at 5:30pm, and the Sunday all-day hike will hike back to the trailhead at the end of the road on the north side of the dam.

Misc :

For anyone wishing to learn more about the history and hiking of the Fontana area, look at www.appalachian history.com

ALL DAY No. A0303-248 Sept. 7 (strenuous) AT Sequence Hike: 8:00 AM Spivey Gap to Nolichucky River Hike 11, Drive 110, 1400 ft. ascent, Rated A-B Paul Benson 667-4279 pbenson@buncombe.main.nc.us An AT sequence hike on the first section north of CMC’s maintenance sections. This hike features beautiful woods and striking views of the Nolichucky Gorge as we drop down to the end point at the hostel at the Nolichucky River. Topo: Chestoa

Post Hike Report: Six hikers (including two first-timers to CMC) enjoyed a very pretty and "mostly" downhill section of the AT. The cool, cloudy weather was nice for hiking and fall seemed to be just around the corner with some change in leaf color already happening. This section is mostly in nice deep forest until the last mile or so where the trail emerges onto an exposed ridgeline with nice views into the Nolichucky River valley. The only incident occurred when the leader got stung by a yellow jacket from a trail-side nest that looked as if it had been very recently dug into (perhaps by a hungry bear). Thanks to the folks at the hostel at the end of the trail for letting us park our shuttle vehicle, even though they were out of Snickers bars. Paul

ALL DAY No. A0303-249 Sept. 7 (moderate) Buckeye Gap and 8:00 AM Haywood Gap Trails Circuit Hike 9, Drive 80, 1400 ft. ascent, Rated B-B John Pawcio 299-8126 jpawcio@tycovalves.com Our hike is in the Middle Prong Wilderness area, so is limited to 10 hikers. Please call the leader for reservations. The trails are primarily old railroad grades with interesting relics from the old lumber camps. From Buckeye Gap, we will descend on the old RR grade to our grassy lunch spot, then climb along the Haywood Gap Stream to the MST and follow the MST back to the starting point. Topo: Sam Knob

Post Hike Report: Six CMC members set out on Sunday morning on what seemed like the first cool morning of fall. We began hiking East on the MTS connecting with the Buckeye Gap trail. Though not in as good a shape as the MST, the trail provides an abundance of Blueberries, a few Blackberries and Nettles, Nettles, Nettles.

I was fortunate to have Tom Bindrim as a sweep and to give us an interesting history lesson of the area. Tom pointed out a switching yard on the Buckeye Gap trail and a nearby section he referred to as the incline. Empty cars were pulled up the mountain from near the Haywood Gap Stream Trail, loaded with logs and sent back down the incline. Remnants of a pit where a large pulley and perhaps a steam generator had been located are all that remain of the operation.

The serious climbing began after noon and going up the HGST took about an hour, getting lost only once just before lunch. We saw many beautiful species of Wild Flowers including Turtle Heads and Black Cohosh. Felt many more Nettles also. Great hike! John Pawcio

HALF DAY No. 8079 Sept. 7 Mt. Pisgah from Pisgah Inn 1:30 PM Hike 5, Drive 30, ~1000 ft. ascent, Rated C-C Elisabeth Feil - 684-8719 hofeil@brinet.com We'll start this car shuttle hike on the Pisgah Inn parking lot, follow the MST for 1.6 miles and climb to Mt. Pisgah with its renowned (almost) 360° view. The hike ends at Mt. Pisgah parking lot. Dinner at Inn optional. Second meeting place: Pisgah Inn parking lot near filling station.

Post Hike Report: There were twelve of us who climbed up to Mt. Pisgah. The weather was overcast and delightfully cool, but still muggy. The mountain was hiding in its own cloud, so there were only very limited views. Many colorful flowers grew along the path . They were ample reward for the missing view.

HALF DAY, No. 8078, Aug. 31, Dupont State Forest, 1:30 PM, Hike 4-5, Drive 70+, Rated C-C, RustyBreeding - 692-0359 bree@planetusa.net Leader will meet group beside Bi-Lo, Pisgah Forest, at 2:00 PM. We'll climb the trail to Triple Falls and High Falls, then it's an easy walk to the pretty Lake Dense. We may do a little additional discovering, and if that's not enough we'll take in Hooker Falls after we get back to the cars.

Post Hike Report: The Sunday afternoon August 31 hike was the hike that wasn't. The deluge started before we got to the Hooker Falls parking lot/trailhead and three out of four said they'd rather not take a chance on the slick muddy trail. (The fourth was carpooling with them so didn't have a choice). The leader decided to cancel the hike. The downpour continued for two hours. Rusty

ALL DAY No. 8067 September 10 MST-Forest Service 9:00 A.M. Road 316, Black Balsam to Skinny Dip Falls Hike 6-7, Drive 7, Rated B-B Siro A. DelFavero, 277-2546 Starting at Black Balsam, we’ll hike to the lower falls at Graveyard Fields for lunch. Then we’ll go on to Skinny Dip Falls and end at the Looking Glass Rock Overlook. Car shuttle. Meeting place: Looking Glass Rock Overlook at Milepost 417.

ALL DAY, No. 8066, September 3, Hump Mountain, 8:30 A.M., Hike 8, Drive 130, Rated B-A, Tom Marshall, 645-7249. We'll hike from Roaring Creek Road to Yellow Mountain Gap, and then along an open ridge on the AT to Hump Mountain, a grassy bald at 5,587 ft. Great views of the Highlands. Meeting place: McDonalds at the 25/70 Weaverville Exit. Topos: Carver's Gap, White Rocks Mountain, TN.

Post Hike Report: Our annual Wednesday hike to Hump Mountain was led by Ames Tryon, subsituting for Tom Marshall. Tom is home recovering from a lightning strike, which occurred in his backyard. Ten hikers joined Ames on the hike to the top of Hump Mountain for lunch, and then a return to the cars. We encountered masses of lovely wildflowers along the trail, including Snake Root, Joe-Pye-Weed, and Jewel Weed. The views on the bald appeared and disappeared, with some fog and cloud cover.

ALL DAY, No. 8065, August 27, Blueberry Hike, 10:15 A.M., Hike 6, Drive 0, Rated B-C, Ken & Carol Deal, 281-4530 kmcdeal@aol.com A second hike will leave for the picking grounds from the Big Sam parking lot, meeting there at 10:15. Call Ken or Carol for reservations for this hike.

Post Hike Report: Two separate hikes left from the Big Sam parking lot for Grassy Cove Top to pick blueberries on Wednesday, August 27th. Since we were picking in the Shining Rock Wilderness, the limit for each group was 10 hikers. Fred Chaffee led the first group and reported that each hiker picked a gallon of blueberries. The 2nd group of ten hikers, led by Ken & Carol Deal, left the Big Sam parking lot at 10:15, and these hikers found the blueberries plentiful also. The weather was a little cloudy, which made the picking time pleasant, and we avoided rain until we returned to the cars.

ALL DAY No. 8063 August 20, AT Hike Brown Gap to 8:30 A.M., Snowbird and return, Hike 11, Drive 45, Rated A-AA, Curt Holladay, 628-9477, caholady@bellsouth.net An in and out AT hike. We will start at Brown Gap and ascend Harmon Den Mountain, then descend to Deep Gap. From Deep Gap there is a steep ascent to the top of Snowbird. After lunch on Snowbird we’ll return to Brown Gap. Estimated cumulative climb, 2900 feet. Only meeting place: Pilot Truck Stop on NC 209, Exit 24 off I-40.

Post Hike Report: Ten seasoned hikers met at the Pilot Truck Stop (Exit 24, I-40) and drove on to Brown Gap via I-40 and Cold Springs Rd (Exit 7). We were on the Trail at 9:15, The slope up Harmon Den Mt begins immediately to Hawks Roost side trail in about a half mile but a prevailing mist at the higher reaches severely limited visibility. The 2.5 mile descent down to Deep Gap consists of a series of ridges and valleys, signaling a challenging return trip. We passed the side trail to the Ground Hog Creek Shelter at 2.9 miles, the bottom of Deep Gap and began the 1360 foot climb over a distance of 2.6 miles to Snowbird Mt. This stretch of the hike was a steady climb in rather harsh hiking conditions with the temperature in the low eighties and high humidity. Taking regular water breaks we worked our way to the tower at the top right at noon and to a most welcome rest and lunch.

The return to Brown Gap started with the long descent to Deep Gap, just the therapy that we needed after the climb to Snow Bird. Then the climb to Harmon Den Mt in heat of the day proved to be a real test for all of us. But like "mad dogs and Englishmen" we strove on to reach Brown Gap a few minutes after 3:00. Without exception all the hikers seemed tired but in good spirits.

This hike would be more enjoyable during cooler weather. The trail was in good condition, well-maintained with a few exceptions. Two tree tops which had fallen across the trail at two separate locations required a little extra effort to work through. Also in the cleared area including the trail at the top of Snow Bird has been grown over with weeds over head high, making for rather unpleasant hiking. Curt